The pictures of six black men stared back at me from the screen, the images of their faces shredded by bullet holes. It seemed like some kind of sick threat, but it was the work of a Florida police department.

This morning, I was greeted by the sickening news that the North Miami Beach Police Department (NMBPD) is using mug shots of  black people and others for target practice.  Mind you, these are not cartoons or computer-generated mug shots—these are photographs of real people, some of whom were arrested by the NMBPD itself. 

I was amazed, appalled, and terribly disappointed by this practice.  And if I was shocked, imagine the reaction of the Florida National Guard Band member who arrived at the shooting range last month only to find her brother’s 15-year-old mug shot, riddled with bullet holes, following target practice by NMBPD officers.

In the aftermath of Ferguson, many of the lessons we’ve learned about what works and what doesn’t in law enforcement have been reinforced.  Among them is the importance of law enforcement working closely with communities to build trust.  We learned that communities of color far too often view law enforcement officers as enforcers, not protectors, as a result of policies and practices that unfairly treat them like criminals.

We also know that valuing the lives of black people—and all people, for that matter—is critical to establishing healthy, collaborative relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.  But if the NMBPD truly believes that “black lives matter,” they have a funny way of showing it.

This incident raises deep concern about whether the NMBPD understands the full implications of this practice and the message this sends to communities of color—especially since North Miami Beach Police Chief J. Scott Dennis has shrugged off the incident, saying that policies were not violated and that there is no discipline forthcoming for the officers involved.

Good policing isn’t just about policies written on paper, it’s about the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they are entrusted with protecting. Mutual trust and respect between police and the communities they serve is critical for effective police work.

In a world where the images that bombard us reinforce unconscious racial biases, using the mug shots of black men for target practice reinforces the power of hidden bias to influence police conduct and perpetuate racialized policing.  Whether policies were broken or not, having officers train by shooting at images of real life people from the community tells the community that the police see them as targets, engendering fear and resentment, not trust.

As ACLU’s Washington Legislative Director Laura Murphy put it in her testimony this week to the President’s Task Force on 21^st Century Policing, a police culture that doesn’t respect the community, “results in a relationship based on mistrust between law enforcement and our low income communities and communities of color. Such a culture results in police killing unarmed black men with little accountability.”

The North Miami Beach Police has a duty is to serve and protect all communities equally, but anything that breaks down the trust that is critical for effective police work jeopardizes public safety.  Using the mug shots of black people for police target practice raises serious concerns about their commitment to that goal.

By: Juan del Hierro, director of Ministry Empowerment for Unity on the Bay and one of the plaintiffs in Grimsley and Albu v. Scott, et al., our freedom to marry case in Florida.

For some, Tuesday, January 6th, will be just another day in Miami. For many others, it will be a day of celebration. Some will celebrate Three Kings Day, some will celebrate marriage equality, and many will celebrate both.

Long celebrated in parades and gift giving, Three Kings Day is the commemoration of when the magi following a bright star came to find Jesus. Christmas was the celebration of the birth of Christ. Three Kings Day is when we in essence celebrate that the magi, the three wise men, were acknowledging the gift that was Christ.

And so today, we celebrate that Florida, our home state, for the first time, acknowledges the gift of love in the lives of so many.

When I married my husband four years ago, we had to leave our community and travel to Washington, D.C., to receive that acknowledgement. And in many ways we knew that the acknowledgement was fleeting, as we knew we were flying back to Florida, a state that was unwilling to legally recognize our relationship. It was a bittersweet moment – witnessing the government through Washington, D.C., value and honor our relationship but knowing that our home state we loved so much wasn't there yet. But now we get to recommit to ourselves, to each other, here, in front of our friends, family, and community, knowing that Florida will finally recognize our solemn union.

We could talk about marriage in terms of rights and responsibilities, a forever promise to be there for each other and be responsible for each other. But speaking in more simple terms, marriage is about love. Before today's historic recognition of same-sex couples, that love was already present. We had met and fallen in love with our partners. We have loved in sickness and in health, for richer and poorer, in joy and in sorrow. Today we celebrate that people, our community and our state, now acknowledge that.

That recognition from our community is powerful. Just like celebrating the magi for acknowledging and cherishing the gift of the Christ, let us take a moment to celebrate that our community now acknowledges and accepts the gift of love, whether between a same-sex couple or opposite-sex couple. That response strengthens the commitment between me and my husband. It makes our community an active witness to our relationship and in turn makes us accountable to our community to continually strengthen our marriage and grow it in wisdom and love.

Traditionally, children will wake up today to find that the three kings have brought them gifts just like they brought Jesus. Let us look for the presents now as we celebrate marriage equality.

Gold, as the gold of many wedding bands that will now be exchanged, symbolizes strength and value. Today, our marriages will be strengthened and valued.

Frankincense, just like love, perfumes our relationships. If you are like me, just smelling it brings me back to being in church and realizing the solemnness of the moment. Today, we are reminded that our marriages are solemn, to us and to our community.

And myrrh, oil used for anointing, represents how today our marriages are given a blessing not only by our loved ones but, now, our state.

We have received the gifts of this celebration day. Let us rejoice and celebrate in community that we followed the shining star of marriage equality and have reached our destination. We have arrived at seeing all loving, committed couples as worthy of dignity and respect.

And that is also cause for celebration, parades, and gift giving – a true Three Kings Day!

This piece originally appeared in Spanish at El Nuevo Herald.